Idea file: under the stairs, redux

Dan, from Bespoke Architects, sent me through the 3D models for the three options requested. Note, in each of these drawings, you are facing south-west, with the back door to the north west (right) of the images.

Here's the architect's preferred version. I like the wall of shelves doubling as the balustrade, but the viewing distance for the telly is just too short.

Option 1 - in front of stairs

What you can also see in this image is where the existing door to the laundry is (darker grey oblong on the wall starting at the foot of the stairs. (I'll refer to this later.)

Here's option two, with the shelving flush with the front of the stairs, and the timber slat balustrade.

Option 2 - flush with front of stairs

And here's option three, with the max viewing distance (preferred), and a solid wall balustrade (not preferred). Clearly, with the stairs where they are, this option doesn't really work (the size of the cavity would be identical to that in option 2).

Option 3 - under stairs, against wall

What I really want is something combining:

• a quarter-turn spiral at the bottom (softens it, foot of the stair faces the direction you're likely to go almost all the time, area under first quarter for school bags, etc)
• move the foot of the stairs nearly a metre towards the back of the house, that is, starting at the other side of the existing doorway (that grey rectangle I pointed out before)
• the timber slats, extending all the way up to become the hall/landing railing upstairs - noise might be a bit of an issue, but the solid wall is really ugly (but probably easy to draw),
• oh, and for the bookcase to travel all the way along the south wall, melding with the under the stair shelving (this can be done with the translated version (ie stair translated 3' north))

Here's an example of a quarter-turn stair, coming down a wall, with the turn into open space:

Pinched from here

And here's my sketch, using the same perspective as Option 2 (I applied 'pencil sketch' mode to that screen shot and used it as my base template. It's bloody hard to draw a spiral stair when the perspective has no square lines at all.)

Sketch of what I'm thinking of

Here's the sketch I based it on, if it helps.

And here's the two superimposed, if you can interpret it, showing the effect of moving the stair.

Thoughts:

• To be able to sling school bags under the stair, they'll have to be open, for at least the spiral part, and that might be a bit weird, given it'll be filled in underneath the main rise. The school bags might have to go somewhere else.
• You don't gain any extra height by having a quarter turn spiral - the width of the stair is about the same as the run for the same section of rise for a straight stair. But I think it looks much better. Even it'll cost a bit more.
• If it really has to (eg safety requirements), there could be a handrail to the north side of the turn, which would make it visually bigger, and therefore me less likely to clock myself on the shin as I come out of the laundry (given the traffic flows, I don't think this is especially likely, but I am stupidly injury prone.)